HAVE: Adopt a Milkweed Newbie - Part 4

FYI, This thread closed on May 1st. Revisit the GW Seed Exchange again in the fall for the 2nd year of this effort.

Milkweed newbies: Have you ever thought about planting milkweed (Asclepias species) to provide habitat for monarchs in your own backyard?

Butterfly enthusiasts: Do you wish more gardeners would plant milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) in their gardens to support declining monarch populations?

Here's where we come together!

This is a variation of previous adopt-a-newbie swaps, but the focus of this swap is for milkweed seeds. This exchange will run through the end of the year, as milkweed growers have seeds become available that they want to share.

"Newbies" are considered to be gardeners who do not already have milkweed growing in their gardens.

As recently pointed out in a post by docmom, Monarch butterflies are currently in serious decline. Here in the US, where they spend their breeding season, Monarchs are directly faced with habitat destruction. Monarch butterflies exclusively use milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) as their host plants, upon which they lay eggs and their caterpillars feed on the milkweed until they pupate. The planting of milkweeds in home gardens can greatly aid in providing much needed habitat for their conservation. In addition to serving as host plants for monarchs, milkweeds also provide nectar for many other butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.

Costs to the Milkweed Newbie Adoptee:
--will pay the postage to the person sending them seeds (or plants) in advance.
--"seeds only" are the easiest and cheapest postage. Sending a pack of milkweed seeds, in a bubble envelope or otherwise wrapped for protection, will cost approx. 2 or 3 first class stamps.

Milkweed Newbie Adoptees:
--Please make sure your email address is enabled to "show to members" on your member page. You need to do this in order to be put on the list so that you can be contacted.
--you can list any special requests for certain milkweed species, although there are no guarantees that species will be available.
--sign up by posting here, in this thread.
--include your zone & state.

Traders who want to adopt a milkweed newbie:
--Please pick someone who lives in a hardiness zone where your milkweed species will grow and survive.
--POST HERE FIRST announcing who you are adopting BEFORE you contact the newbie.
--then email the newbie, introducing yourself, providing your screen name, zone, state, and offer to adopt them.
--work out how many stamps they need to send to you to cover the cost of postage and packaging.

The host/hostess(es) will (that's me, and other helpful volunteers):
--compile and post lists of the newbies+zone+state every so often.
--check through recent posts and remove those who have been adopted from the new lists when compiling.

Newbies who get contacted for adoption:
--check back here to see if you have been adopted.
--check the Rate & Review forum regarding the person who contacted you. This is found at: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/raterev/
--proceed with the adopt, and arrange details for how much postage you need to send to pay for mailing your milkweed seeds.
--send them the postage for what they're gifting.
--After receiving the package, thank your adopter & post here too (so we know the adoption went through).
--Post good feedback / thanks for your adopter on the Rate&Review forum.

Hoping there is lots of interest in this exchange. Feel free to pass the word around to generate more interest.
Got questions? Feel free to ask them here.
Want more info on Monarchs and Milkweed? Visit Monarch Watch

Spring 2014 Monarch Migration map!

Triangles represent winter locations
Circles represent first adult monarch sightings to date this spring. You can see my yellow circle in MS :)

I'd like to be adopted. We used to have lots of milkweed around here when I was a kid, don't know what happened to it all. What are the required growing conditions? I'll be sure to put the seeds where DH doesn't mow. Might be able to get the schools interested too. Please send me an email.

On the cusp of zone 5b and 6a in hills of NW CT - schools are in 6. Have woods, clearings, pasture (that gets brushhogged since we don't have animals) and swampy areas. Rocky, sandy loam with ledge for the most part.

We live on 2+ acres in Marietta, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. We have open fields, woods and shady areas. We are just starting on plans for habitats for birds, butterflies and other insects and wildlife. I remember the milkweed plants and Monarchs from my youth, and know they must be a part of my habitat. I would love to have your help. Thank you.

beth4652,
You are already on the list (#30) and mrs.b_in_wy has tried several times to get in touch with you to arrange details for sending you seeds. Please contact mrs.b_in_wy directly, as it appears you have not gotten in touch. I would greatly appreciate it if you would also post an update later once you do get in touch and have sent stamps for postage.
Thanks,
Katie

buturfliis_mom/Ellen, if you scroll all the way to the top of this thread, you will see instructions in the first post. Essentially, you need to look at the list of newbies in the 2nd post of this thread and pick someone who has not been adopted. Then, contact that person via email thru GardenWeb. You should also post a followup to this thread to let us know who you are going to contact and adopt to avoid duplicate adoptions.

Desirai, welcome! I will add you to the list of newbies to be adopted.

hello I am a newb and through all of my childhood ages I have always wanted a milkweed to look after because of my interests have butterfly's (especially monarchs) so I have come here to see if I could adopt one

buturfliis_mom, that sounds awesome! I usually request 3 stamps so that I can send seeds via 1st class and keep costs down. You should go ahead and email brodyjames via GW to make contact and send them your mailing address privately. Thanks so much for your help in these efforts!

Okay. I will figure this out soon enough. Brodyjames is looking for a seed that I do not have. I only have asclepias syriaca and asclepias incarnata. Both seeds are zone 3 - 9... So I cannot adopt brodyjames. I could do ndgrad95 zone 5 in ohio if they want these ?

Brodyjames, Send me your address, I will happily adopt you!
I saw that milkweed also. It is very pretty! However. I question if our monarchs here would be attracted to it since it is not native to here.

There is a great speaker Professor Doug Tallamy who speaks about attracting wildlife to your home. No native birds use Japanese maples however 550 species use burr oaks! May have quoted incorrectly but that is the gist of it. He has a great book out also and website about the topic.

Saw this thread over in the recent posts thread and had to look. It's a great idea! Thanks for doing this.

I don't think I fall into either category -- I have had some milkweed before and it came back last year, though not as strong, and I'm afraid we lost it altogether this winter ( TX). I did not collect seed, thinking the plants would reseed themselves and spread. I am not seeing any sprouts, but we just had some late icing last week, so we are in a weird mix of budding and dormant right now. Am I likely to see sprouts near the old plant or do I need to start new from seed?

Lascatx,
I wouldn't give up on your plants yet. Here in the north, our milkweeds die back every winter and re sprout when weather warms. Also, new seedlings are late to sprout, compared to other plants. You could certainly plant some extras, in case. We can't have too much milkweed. Check an online source for milkweeds that are native to your area. Then come back and see if anyone has seeds for those species. Or, visit the Butterfly Gardening forum. Folk there will bend over backward to help anyone who is working to save the Monarchs. And Texas is crucial since it is the first stop in their migration. If the Monarchs don't make it through Texas, we'll never get to see them further north. I could send you thousands of A. Syriaca seeds, but I don't know if they are native to Texas.

There is a webpage that displays photos of wild milkweed photographed in Texas. A. syriaca is shown there.

The person who put this webpage together is a photographer and these photos of wild milkweed were photographed in Texas over a period of four years.

correction: after clicking on the photo of A. syriaca, the author notes she has not yet photographed this variety of native milkweed in Texas. The photo shown is used with permission from the original photographer.

I think what I have is the curassavica or Mexican Milkweed. I don't remember getting sprouts last year -- just the original plant coming back, or so it seemed. I may need to collect seed to help it along.

I didn't realize how different varieties of milkweed could look so different. I have only seen the variety I have and bought some seed for another last year, but I didn't get it planted.

Hello... I am very interested in a butterfly garden this year and would love some help. We already have about 6 hummingbirds and would to get the butterflies to come around too. Thank you. From zone 5 (Jackson, Michigan)

I have a giant yellow milkweed and TONS of seeds... I would like to exchange my seeds for some swamp milkweed seeds to plant on another side of my house that has very wet soil with poor drainage.
I don't see another post for me to post about this on so if someone can contact me regarding this I would greatly appreciate it!

dominiktheplantlover, that means that if you scroll all the way to the top and review the 2nd post, you will see your name listed as a newbie. Others that have milkweed seeds to share and wish to adopt newbies will then pick someone to adopt from the list. All you have to do is wait, and check back in on this thread to see if someone has adopted you yet.

Not sure if anyone has noticed yet, but I have re-vamped the list of Newbies in the 2nd post to make it more organized, help me keep stuff separated, and help simplify the list for others who are looking to adopt someone. I will also be purging newbies from the list who have never responded. If anyone has any updates (that means you, Newbies and Adopters), please post them here!

Thanks for the updates, domehome and buturfliis_mom! And thank you both for continuing to adopt numerous newbies and help in the effort to get milkweed into the gardens of more gardeners for our declining monarchs. It is truly appreciated :)

Buturfliis_mom, no worries, just be sure to check here first, and post who you are adopting before you make contact so that we don't duplicate efforts. No doubt domehome is sending seed to brodyjames because she has A. physocarpa to share. But, I too have A. syriaca and A. incarnata to send to Desirai just like you. I wish Desirai had let one of us know that she had already been adopted by someone when we made contact with her. I may see about sending nectar plants to her instead so that I can send milkweed seeds to another newbie.

Attention: zieglergarden You can't be reached because your member page doesn't have your email enabled. I have a question about your request to exchange giant yellow milkweed for swamp milkweed seeds. What species is this giant yellow milkweed? Tropical/Curassavica or Tuberosa ? They both have yellow blooms.

Yall are dedicated to sending your milkweed seeds. I have a few questions. Do swallowtail butterflies like the milkweeds too? I love all butterflies, but those are my favorite. I haven't seen many monarchs here in Tennessee as I do swallowtails. Also, did I do what I need to do to get add to the milkweed newbie list? And to be honest, I forgot to check the box for replies to this thread to be emailed to me, so I am just trying to remedy that situation. I certainly don't want to miss anything!!! Yall have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Hi!
I've been collecting seeds from my A. curassavica and wonder if I could contact the remaining newbies to see if they would like some. I looked it up and even though it is tropical, I read it can grow further north as an annual.

Anyways, it's the only milkweed I have and I'd like to spread the love by sending the seeds out.

I see that there are still 4 folks on the list. Is it OK if I contact:
caw_in_zn5
country-gardener

Hi there, pmb.
You are already on the list. Look up at the top, at the 2nd post.

Yes, swallowtails will use milkweed flowers for nectar; however, Monarchs and Queens are the only butterflies to use milkweed as their host plant.

The different species of swallowtails have different host plants:
Black swallowtail - plants in the Apiaceae (carrot) family, both natives and non-natives and herbs
Pipevine swallowtail - Aristolochia (pipevine) species
Spicebush Swallowtail - spicebush or sassafras
Giant Swallowtail - Citrus family and Zanthoxylum species
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - several species of native trees (Yellow Poplar, Black Willow, Black Cherry, American Hornbeam, Red Maple, Spicebush, American Elm, and Sassafra)

Susie, you are more than welcome to go ahead and contact all of the newbies you listed and make arrangements with them to adopt them if they are interested in A. curassavica, ask them to send you stamps, then mail seeds back to them.

I will mark you down for adopting all of them, but please come back and verify with a follow-up post and let us know how the adoptions progress.

Susie thank you! I will email you to get the information I need about the sending postage and whatnot. kchd, you are very knowledgeable about butterflies! I will look up all those plants and info to do what I can to attract more. I will never forget going to Dollywood and seeing all those butterflies. It was AMAZING. They were everywhere. It felt magical. I would love to recreate that here on my mini farm. Thank you for your help.

susieqsie and others exchanging tropical milkweeds with northern zone gardeners; this is just a heads up that it may not be in the best interests of this effort to plant A. curassavica and other tropical varieties of milkweed in more northern zones. These tend to have longer bloom periods and may encourage the monarchs to stick around when they should be migrating south before the cold weather hits.

There are past and current studies researching this available online if you feel so inclined to Google. But of course this is a free country and you're obviously permitted to do what you please with your garden. There are plenty of colorful and showy varieties of milkweeds to pick from though that won't have this negative effect on the monarchs in your area.

Please reconsider ... the Monarchs NEED all the milkweed we can grow this year.

I am so happy so many home gardeners are willing to help and ultimately, growing perennial milkweed will enhance your gardens AND feed the Monarchs. But if beginning new with perennial varieties of milkweed, very little top growth will occur this season as the plants will concentrate on root development their first year. With typical first year top growth of almost all varieties of milkweed, it would take many, many 1st year milkweed seedlings to get one Monarch cat to the pupa stage. I hand raise the little cats and know how much milkweed leaf each one consumes. Mama Monarch will lay eggs on the tiny growth, but the little cats will die once the leaf is consumed unless they can crawl to, or are moved to, other milkweed leaves.

So my plea is to please consider growing Tropical or Oscar this season. It grows fast and will provide mama Monarch with a place to lay her eggs, food for the little cats and also blooms for nectar.

Once we get the Monarch numbers going in the right direction, then we can decide how we feel on this other issue regarding growing Tropical or Oscar MW in northern climates.

Mary - conversely, encouraging egg layers to stick around the Midwest or further north into October and possibly November will only result in a winter kill; thus placing further stress on the already stressed population of monarchs. This is not a problem that happened overnight so it's not going to take overnight to fix it and seeking a quick fix by planting tropical milkweeds in northern climates will hurt the effort in the long run.

I have written to each of the not-yet-adopted newbies and explained that Tropical Milkweed is under debate and they might want to plant other kinds where they live. That is the reason I asked permission before sending out seeds ~ I don't want their names removed from the list because they will still need to be "really adopted" and sent the best seeds for their area.

NKUsigEp, I have read what you've mentioned in other posts and places on line. Some folks suggest cutting off the flowers (or cut down the plants) at the correct time to prompt the monarchs to migrate. And I've read where Tropical can be potted up and brought inside for the winter, although I don't know if it's worth the trouble when it grows so easily from seed . . . well, it does for me anyway.

And Mary is so darn convincing, right?

Anyways, I gave CAW, Country Gardener, Mama and PMB the option of doing whatever they feel right in their hearts to do.

I hope that someone else will also adopt them - and me - and send us non-Tropical Milkweed.

Katie has been working so hard all these many months to encourage this effort and I want to apologize to her for my earlier post in reply to NKUSigEp.

I grow several different varieties of native milkweed in my own garden and I totally agree that everyone should be encouraged to grow native milkweed.

I meant no disrespect to NKUSigEp and I certainly never meant to discourage the planting of perennial milkweed this year. If anyone took my reply to NKUSigEp to mean this, please know it wasn't my intent.

Now come on Spring! We've all got a lot of milkweed seed to nurture :-)

Mary, no worries! I don't think anyone took offense to any posts made by anybody (I know I didn't). I think it is great that we are discussing the pros and cons of planting tropical, non-natives, perennials, and native species of milkweeds. These are all things we need to think about as gardeners when we choose which milkweed species to plant.

All we need to do is maintain exactly what we have all done thus far, which is to be polite and respectful to others. We've done a great job of that. :)

I was curious if anyone would consider sending me some milkweed seeds? My daughter's school recently planted a butterfly garden and my daughter has asked to have her own (in addition to the veggie garden the kiddos are wanting to start....I swear, they want their mommy in the dirt all spring and summer! ha!). Kansas zone 5. Let me know if you need postage or whatnot. Please and thank you!

mhbaker82, do you mean to say that you wish to receive seeds? If so, then you are a newbie and therefore, you will be the adoptee. Or do you have seeds to share with others? If so, then you would be an adopter.

Need Help with my Plant. Here is my story: I purchased an Asciepia Incarnata (swamp milkweed) plant from one of my local nurseries in Michigan last year. I transplanted into a bigger pot for root growth. It flowered and had 1 seed pod that I let crack open a little. I picked the pod and put into a paper bag and refrigerated over the winter so I could start additional plants. The question I have is, I brought my plant indoors for the winter and put in basement in a bucket of water so it wouldn't die over the winter. How do I get the plant to sprout and grow again so I can help the low Monarch population? The stalks look grey with no leaves on them. I am worried that I may have killed the plant and should have left it outside over the winter with the snow. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Nadine - the A. incarnata is winter hardy in your zone (6, same as me). Like most native forbs, it dies back to the ground in the winter and will regrow from the roots the following spring after a period of cold dormancy. It's possible that keeping it inside has killed it but all you can do is plant it outside (somewhere permanent), give it some water and sunshine and hope it grows.

Me! Me! Me! Would love some seeds!!! We had some of these amazing plants when my sons were growing up and actually had the butterflies "do their thing" in our backyard. Do not know what happened to the plants, but now have young grandchild with whom I would love to introduce to this God given cycle! Thanks :)

buturfliis_mom, Thank you for the wonderful package of seeds. It really made my day. I really appreciate that you added information on germination. I saw my first butterfly yesterday too by the way!!!! Just after I got your envelope! It looked like a yellow monarch. Is that even a real critter? It wasn't a swallowtail. Anyways, thank you so much buturfliis_mom! You're great.

kchd, yes I did, thank you! I had read the germination instructions butterfliis_mom put with her seeds. I just wasn't sure what condition these seeds had been sent. I have milkweed wrapped in paper towel, air tight, in the fridge for 3-6 weeks. I'm also trying to grow rue and parsley in my greenhouse. I wasn't sure if the rue needed stratified. How do you know which seeds need to be stratified or not? Do all perennials need to be stratified?

Yesterday my little greenhouse was hot and steamy!!! That is better than any Fifty Shades of Gray :) Have great day y'all.

Happy to announce that my first monarch showed up in the yard today (nectaring on purple dead-nettle). If only my milkweed were up already! It is a really late spring here in c. Mississippi. Our only native blooms so far are spring beauty, violets, Carolina jessamine, wild plums, black cherry, redbuds, and the dogwoods just started blooming this weekend.

Hello everyone! I would like to be a milkweed newbie, zone 5 mid-michigan. I just moved into a house with access to a small pond so if possible I'd really like something that won't mind wet roots in the summer and freezing in the winter.... though I have no idea what kind of conditions milkweed even likes.

I just join Gardenweb and really would love some annual milk weeds seeds. if at all possible. But glad to get any you are offering. What a wonderful thing doing thus!
Ruth
Address:
Ruth Bruner
11411 Pleasant Drive
Valley Station,KY 40272

I would love to be adopted by someone from this area. I live close to Tupelo, MS. I know many of the milkweeds do better in the Southcentral area of the country, but I do have one or two wild ones on my place already. There are a few Joe Pye weeds in the low areas already as well. I live on an old farm with small sandy clay fields in between woodlots. I am doing everything I can to get as many different varieties of wildlife there as possible. Right now my priority is on the pollinators. Anyone willing to help please let me know.

amoocow421, Welcome! If you would be so kind as to list your state, I will add you to the list :)

buturfliis_mom, thanks so much for the update, and for helping to adopt so many newbies. You rock!! See you next fall :)

kygrl, Welcome! I strongly suggest that you edit your post to remove your complete name and mailing address. Someone with milkweed seeds will adopt you via email to adopt you. You should also consider editing your profile so that your hardiness zone and state shows :)

jackofalltrades, welcome! You should fix your profile as well to show zone 7b, MS. I would be happy to adopt you. You're just a hop, skip & jump away from me. I will send you an email, but if you don't receive it, please email me. Sometimes GW is glitchy sending emails.

Thank you for adopting me Katie. Since we are not too far apart, I should have no trouble with getting the best varieties for this area. I look forward to getting them started and seeing some butterflies use them. In the twenty plus years I have had this place, I can not say with confidence that I have seen a monarch butterfly there. I have a lot of swallowtails and some others, but I can not remember Monarchs. Hopefully, some will find me if I get enough attractants planted for them.

I am would love to be adopted. I have not seen a Monarch in years. I have a decent yard with plenty of room to plant things. I would love to provide a stop for weary butterflies. I am thinking of planting a Butterfly bush and a few others.

Well, I think it is fair to say that Spring is upon us. By now we are all busy in our gardens. I am closing this adoption thread to new participants (adoptees) by the end of the day on April 30th. Hopefully we can get the last few remaining newbies adopted out by mid-May.

A big thank you goes out to all the participants, but especially to the wonderful volunteers who adopted newbies along the way.

I'd be happy to keep this thread going to help any milkweed newbies with seed sowing and milkweed growing adventures.

Hope to see many of you back next fall, say around October, to commence the 2nd annual Adopt-a-Milkweed-Newbie thread!

I may be the last, but I would love to sow milkweed seeds in my garden, im currently growing a food forest both that has a healthy ecosystem, I would also like to give my share to my schools beautiful garden that dedicated a space for butterflies, its called butterfly sanctuary, im sure they'd love to include this in their garden

Thanks to this list, I was adopted and received seeds from xiangirl yesterday. I promptly planted them. Hope they come up and I can start seeing some monarchs in my area. Kids loved the painted lady butterflies we did a couple years ago, so this will hopefully get them connected with a love for gardening.

Hi xiangirl!! I'm newbie Trent here, and would love to include milkweed in my gardens. I live in Tennessee, zone 7a. My 5 y/o niece and I spend a lot of time gardening in the summer. I think this would be a wonderful learning opportunity for both of us. I actually have a few acres and I'd like to plant a few patches. Adopt me please!! :-))

I'm dying to be adopted. I'm a newbie here, but I have all the resources except the seed. I could probably go roadside, but would rather be certain with plant ID. Hehe. I'm eager and love bringing the butterflies and hummingbirds around to marvel at. Thank you!!

the seeds i received last year have sprouted (actually sprouted months ago, just haven't remembered to post). i direct sowed them into my seed bed, so there is also clover growing as well as some other unknowns that i'm allowing to grow and bloom - hopefully they are native as well.

I'm brand new to gardening and would love to be adopted! ! Not sure how active this thread still is!! I love butterflies, haven't seen too many around my house. I am really looking for seeds only. Seems easier for me right now! Thanks! Happy Planting!

This is the most activity I had with my milkweeds. My poor little milkweeds got chewed down! That's that point isn't it? My 1st year plants haven't flowered and I guess that means I won't have seed pods either.

Katie - This is a great project and very helpful to newbies. Thank you for your efforts to help the monarch butterfly!